Saints unrivalled in men’s race
Bonello Spiteri maintains her supremacy
Led by Keith Galea, Birkirkara St Joseph triathletes dominated the men’s race from the second round of the BSJ 2012 Series, held recently.
The Saints claimed the top-four places, all runners finishing under one hour, two minutes as Danica Bonello Spiteri, of St Patrick’s AC, fended off all opposition in the women’s race to maintain her perfect record in the series.
Dermot Galea, David Agius Lia and Keith Galea were the first to emerge from the 750-metre swim at Salina Bay, all covering the distance in less than 11 minutes 30 seconds.
The two Galeas left the swim-to-bike transition ahead of their team-mate who lost some ground at this juncture of the race. However, it was Rudolph Agius, another BSJ triathlete, who took over Agius Lia in chasing the pacesetters.
He cycled the route in 29 minutes, eight seconds, to go second ahead of Dermot Galea (30:33).
Keith Galea’s time was 29 minutes and 17 seconds.
The final five-kilometre run featured a strong performance from another Birkirkara SJ triathlete, Steve Chetcuti.
His relentless pace could not be matched by Dermot Galea and Agius as Chetcuti surged into second place, without threatening Keith Galea’s lead. The latter won the race in 59 minutes 52 seconds.
Chetcuti was second in 1:00.46 and Dermot Galea third in 1:01.12. Agius also managed to go under 62 minutes, with a time of 1:01.28.
Bonello Spiteri made sure of her win in the swim segment.
In fact, she swam the 750 metres in 11 minutes 43 seconds, ahead of Hannah Pace (12:16) and Margaret Seguna (12:28).
With Pace losing pace in the cycle and Seguna ruled out with a couple of punctures, BSJ’s Michelle Vella Wood applied the pressure on the champion.
The Saints’ triathlete was over a minute faster than Bonello Spiteri on the bike, reducing the gap to 25 seconds. But the latter regained her one-minute margin in the run to complete the race in 1:06.30.
Vella Wood was second in 1:07.31 and Johanna Calleja third in 1:09.50.
Gary Farrugia (swimmer), Etienne Bonello (cyclist) and G. Micallef (runner) won the relay competition in 5:05.
In all, 11 relay teams took part.
The third race from the series, this year sponsored by Festina and The Cyclist, will be held on September 2.